How Philly hoops shaped D.J. Rivera and his son, Derrick Morton-Rivera, to do ‘what you love’

It was easy for Derrick Morton-Rivera to “fall in love” with basketball. He was always around it.

His father, D.J. Rivera, had his son while he was a sophomore at St. Joseph’s. Even after he transferred to Binghamton University in New York then University of Montevallo in Alabama, his son traveled to games and watched.

“His little eyes would be going up and down the court,” said D.J. Rivera, who grew up in Lawncrest and played nine years professionally overseas. “I gave him a basketball, and he never put it down.”

The Riveras also have deep roots in the sport. D.J.’s dad played, along with his late uncle, Hank Gathers, who starred at Loyola Marymount and once the NCAA’s scoring champion and rebounding leader in 1989.

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For the Riveras, basketball serves as a reminder that nothing in life is guaranteed. On March 4, 1990, Gathers collapsed on a court in Southern California while playing in the West Coast Conference Tournament semifinals. He suffered cardiac arrest and died at 23 years old.

“With my uncle and his heart condition, you never know when you could play your last game or your last time people seeing you — death is real,” D.J. Rivera said. “It’s the only thing that’s guaranteed in life, so I think while we’re here, you should do what you love.”

It’s why Rivera brought his son to the Danny Rumph Classic for years.

The five-day tournament, which begins Thursday at Drexel, honors Rumph, who died in a pickup basketball game at the Mallery Recreation Center on May 8, 2005.

Rumph died from an undiagnosed heart condition, known as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which caused him to go into sudden cardiac arrest. He was 21.

Giving back to a cause that similarly impacted his family was important to Rivera. He played in the tournament in 2012 and did it consecutively for about 10 years. Even Morton-Rivera participated in a youth halftime game during the tournament in 2016, where he recalled winning a $50 Nike gift card and James Harden showing out to play in the final.

The two have made an effort to check out the event each year and plan to attend a game this week.

“I love the Danny Rumph tournament,” Rivera said. “You get to play against pros, NBA players, be highly competitive, get to talk trash, and the crowd’s great. It’s just a great weekend in the city that you look forward to end the summer on.”

» READ MORE: The big theme ahead of this week’s annual Rumph Classic? Bridging the gap for a common cause.

Being exposed to an event like the Rumph Classic has also played a factor in Morton-Rivera, a 6-foot-4 guard, continuing his basketball legacy in Philadelphia. The Father Judge graduate will play at Temple this fall.

“Back in the day, a lot of people used to stay home,” he said. “That’s not normal now. I feel like that should be a normal thing because that brings the community out even more. Like if a lot of hometown kids are staying, a lot of people from Philadelphia are going to the games. It’s just better for the city, it brings everybody together.”

At a young age, Morton-Rivera didn’t fully grasp what happened to Gathers, but as he got older, he had a better understanding.

He took a family trip to California before 2020 and visited LMU, where he saw Hank Gathers’ statue outside of the arena. He also met with a program who detects heart problems and had a screening done.

The trip, Morton-Rivera said, brought his family together.

“Even though I didn’t know much about it at a young age, just me hearing about it and knowing what they did inspired me to do what I do,” he added.

Basketball has also been the focal point of him and his dad’s relationship. This past year, D.J. Rivera got to watch his son win back-to-back Catholic League championships with Father Judge, a feat he once achieved 20 years ago with Neumann Goretti.

Both father and son left their respective high schools as the program’s all-time leading scorer.

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After Judge won the crown inside a packed Palestra this past February, Rivera surprised his son with a shirt that read on the back, “20 years apart same heart.”

“When my career came to an end, I got to watch his, so it’s like the game never left,” said Rivera, who will graduate from the Philadelphia Fire Academy in three weeks. “That’s something that brings me and him together. … It’s something we can enjoy together because I both know we love the sport.

“Basketball has done a lot for us. It’s just a great feeling to be able to continue that and watch his time be here now. Soon enough, he’ll be playing in the Rumph as a professional.”